“We did it! Adem!”
“Tch! Idiot! Don’t come yet!”
“Eh… Ah.”
At my voice, Linfa stopped in his tracks with a start. And then he realized. The tail of the immobilized Violet Crystal Scorpion. Its stinger was pointing right at him.
At this close range, Linfa, a rear guard, absolutely couldn’t dodge it.
“Dammit.”
I sprinted instantly. Make it—!
A rear guard entering effective range before the match is settled. Before the needle, fired as if to punish that foolishness, could directly hit Linfa, I caught up in the nick of time and deflected it with my sword.
But, a second shot followed. My sword wouldn’t make it in time for this one. Since Linfa was behind me, I couldn’t dodge it either, so I blocked it with the left arm I threw up on the spur of the moment, grimacing at the pain of being pierced.
“A-Adem…”
“Linfa! Blast it with a spell! I’ll hold out here!”
“! U-understood!”
Rather than letting Linfa escape after he had entered range, it was better for me to protect Linfa here while he aimed for the finish.
Judging so, I used my sword and body to catch the needles being fired one after another.
“…! [Chain Spell: Shatter, Ice Blocks! Ice Strike]!!”
And so, the ice cannonball, fired at a closer range than before, directly hit the Violet Crystal Scorpion’s head. With a destructive Bagan sound, it pulverized its face. Yet, it still hadn’t reached death.
While flinching heavily, it struggled to aim its stinger.
I’m near my limit too. I’ll end it here.
“Payback’s here… O-raaah!!”
Not caring about the blood spurting from my wounds, I wound up and threw my sword at the crushed face.
Retaliation for all the needles it shot at me.
Thrown with almost all of my meager remaining mana poured into it, it tore through the air, leaving a bursting sound in its wake.
It pierced deeply into the head through the wide-open wound.
The Violet Crystal Scorpion’s tail hung down limply, and its body crumbled away like ash. This time, it was a genuine settlement.
“Managed… somehow… Goh…!”
“Adem!”
Coughing up blood mixed with air, I stumbled, and Linfa tried to support me. That was when Linfa saw me from the front for the first time and opened his eyes wide.
“No way…!”
The front of my body was in a miserable state, pierced all over by the needles I failed to sweep away with my sword. However, I had intended to take them while avoiding fatal wounds, so it shouldn’t be as severe as the shocking visual suggests. If anything, the mana exhaustion might be tougher.
With Linfa supporting me, I half-dragged my body toward the return circle.
“I-it’s my… It’s my fault…!”
“Ah—? Don’t worry about it. Either way, I couldn’t have defeated it without you…”
“But…”
“More importantly… look at me right now… I look like a reverse hedgehog…”
There are so many needles stuck in the front of my body.
“Isn’t that just a guy who attacked a hedgehog and got the tables turned on him…? Wait, is this the time to be saying that!?”
While spouting nonsense, I managed to reach the return circle in a battered state, where I reached my limit and let go of my consciousness.
“I know this ceiling…”
Waking up to the morning sun streaming through the window, I stared at the ceiling of the infirmary equipped in the Guild and muttered such a thing.
After collapsing in front of the return circle, it seems I was carried here. Looking at my body, I was wrapped round and round in bandages, looking like a mummy man. It seems the wounds were severe enough that the healing mages stationed at the Guild couldn’t completely cure them immediately.
“Ow… ow…!”
I tried to sit up and groaned at the intense pain running through my whole body. Still, how long has it been since I was injured this badly…? A death match with a strong enemy after a long time, and a victory. My body hurt terribly, but my mood was bright.
“Suu… suu…”
“Hmm?”
I heard a sound like sleeping breath from close by. Turning toward the sound, I saw Linfa sleeping, slumped over on the bedside table by the bed I was sleeping in, while still sitting on a chair.
I don’t know how much time has passed since then, but surely he wasn’t here the whole time I was asleep? Linfa must have consumed a considerable amount of mana in that battle; he must be tired.
I hesitated for a moment whether to wake him, but he wouldn’t get any rest sleeping in a position like this, so for now, I should wake him up and tell him to go home or to an inn to rest properly.
I shook Linfa’s shoulder to wake him.
“Nnn… Adem!?”
“Whoa…”
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As soon as he opened his eyes, he brought his face close enough to lean over me, causing me to lean back.
“Thank goodness, you woke up…”
“Yeah, sorry for worrying you. Did you stay here the whole time?”
“N-no… I just came a little while ago and dozed off.”
Oh, is that so? Well, even so, I don’t feel bad that he went out of his way to visit me early in the morning.
“By the way, how long was I asleep?”
“We got out of the labyrinth at midnight, so… not quite a full night.”
Is that all? It’s a relief I wasn’t out for days.
“However, a respawn, huh…”
From now on, the respawn phenomenon will definitely occur in other labyrinths too. Or perhaps Guardians have already revived in some places.
Including the cause, it is undoubtedly a troublesome phenomenon, but for capable adventurers and parties wanting to sell their names, this is also an opportunity. Because defeating a Guardian has benefits that match or exceed the struggle. That is no exception for me either.
For better or worse, this city is going to be noisy for a while. …She is coming back too—
“…Um, Adem.”
Just as I was sinking into the sea of thought, I was pulled back to reality by Linfa’s words.
“Hm, what is it?”
Just as Linfa was about to say the rest, the infirmary door was thrown open with force.
“Adem-san!!!”
“Homura?”
Charging into the room with tremendous momentum was Homura. Her eyes met mine, she widened them, and the blood drained from her face.
“Ah, oh no…! I’ll heal you immediately…! [Arch Heal]!”
“Whoa.”
As usual, the highest-tier healing magic, activated as if it were nothing, healed the wounds on my body before my eyes, and the pain vanished. Tremendous efficacy… I didn’t have scenes where I got injured like this before, so this is surprisingly the first time it’s been used in a fitting situation.
She probably heard about me from one of the Guild staff. It seems she came all the way just to treat me.
“Thanks, Homura, that helps…”
“[Arch Heal].”
“Eh.”
“[Arch Heal] [Arch Heal] [Arch Heal] [Arch Heal].”
“No, wait, Homura?”
Even though I was already completely healed, my face twitched at the rapid-fire [Arch Heal] being cast in succession. Linfa, who was initially just astonished at the high-level magic, also started to get a little frightened and was rendered speechless.
“[Sacred Heal] [Arc Regenerate] [Absorb Healing]……!”
“I’m healed, I’m healed already! Actually, why does my body feel hot… It’s glowing!? My body has started glowing!!”
Perhaps due to the side effects of excessive recovery, a blinding light was overflowing from my entire body. Scary, scary, scary!
“Adem-san, I heard you got hurt but… Whoa, bright!”
“Adem-san…! Have you finally become so great that your body is shining…?”
“It is not a halo.”
“Geld, Elsha! Perfect timing! Stop Homura!”
“Eh? Wait, hold on, Homura, what are you doing!”
“Whoa, she’s spamming healing magic!? Stop it,!”
Seeing Homura’s abnormal state as she single-mindedly continued chanting healing magic, the two of them rushed to stop her, looking shocked.
“Mmph!? Mmugh—!?”
With the two of them working together to cover her mouth, Homura’s barrage of healing magic was finally interrupted.
“Mmph, puha! Haa, haa…”
“Calmed down? Jeez, what on earth is wrong with you, Homura?”
“I-I’m sorry… I’ve never seen Adem-san injured like that… My mind just went blank…!”
“No, it’s fine… Thanks to you, the injury is completely healed.”
“Still, for Adem-san to get injured like that, it must have been something serious,…”
“Ugh… If only I could have fought alongside you…”
“Even Adem-san ended up like this, you know? If people like us were there, we’d only be a burden.”
If you guys were there, the enemy would have been turned to cinders in a matter of minutes. Seriously, what is with these guys’ bizarrely low self-esteem?
In the midst of this, Elsha noticed Linfa and looked over, as if suddenly realizing she was there.
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